Breathless

Breathlessnesss, also known as magical breathing, is a property in NetHack that allows a hero or monster to breathe in any environment even if it would ordinarily be lethal, and also makes them amphibious, allowing for underwater travel if they are capable of moving in water.

The only item that grants the breathless property is the amulet of magical breathing. Various monsters also have this trait as an attribute, sometimes referred to as unbreathing, that is governed by breathless(ptr) in the code.

The following information pertains to an upcoming version (3.7.0). If this version is now released, please verify that the information below is still accurate, then update the page to incorporate it.

Per commit 24713061, a hero that successfully prays while in the midst of poison clouds and cannot be teleported to a safe area will be given temporary magical breathing for 8-20 turns.

Description

While breathless, the hero can breathe while underwater without drowning by any means, though their inventory will be subject to water damage as usual, and water squares become "safe" for purposes of teleportation. The hero is also protected from the effects of sleeping gas traps and the engulfing attacks of fog clouds; poison clouds will not damage them regardless of poison resistance and are not considered a major trouble for prayer while you have the property, though they can still render the hero blind. Protection from sleeping gas and poison clouds also applies to breathless monsters.

A hero cannot choke while breathless: if they would choke from eating too much food, they will instead "vomit voluminously", abusing constitution and losing 1000 nutrition. This also protects from the instant choking effect of eating an amulet of strangulation, but does not protect from a worn amulet of strangulation unless the hero is also mindless, since the worn amulet also crushes their neck.

The 1000 experience point-bonus for killing sea monsters with drowning attacks does not apply while the hero are amphibious, including from breathlessness.

List of breathless monsters

The following monsters are breathless:

• All undead: LMVWZ 
• All jmvyFP'
• All e, except floating eyes
• b acid blob
• g gargoyle
• g winged gargoyle
• E earth elemental
• X xorn
• the @ Wizard of Yendor
• @ Charon (deferred)
• & mail daemon

Messages

You are laden with moisture and find it mildly uncomfortable.

You are breathless and engulfed by a fog cloud.

You sink like a rock. But you aren't drowning. You touch bottom.

You fell into the water while breathless.

You choke, but recover your composure.

You were saved from instant choking by breathlessness.

You stuff yourself and then vomit voluminously.

You were saved from overeating by breathlessness.

Variants

SLASH'EM

In SLASH'EM, vampiric heroes are naturally unbreathing.

UnNetHack

In UnNetHack, vampiric heroes are naturally unbreathing as in SLASH'EM.

dNetHack

In dNetHack, breathlessness does not prevent strangulation as such, but causes the hero's breath timer to ignore the status entirely until it times out harmlessly.

Vampiric characters are naturally unbreathing as in other variants. White dragon scales and scale armor grant breathlessness as a secondary extrinsic while worn. The spirit Astaroth confers breathlessness while bound.

FIQHack

In FIQHack, wearing white dragon scales or white dragon scale mail also grant breathlessness.

Breathlessness is one of the properties that can be conferred by quaffing or dipping into a potion of wonder.

EvilHack

In EvilHack, sea dragon scales and sea dragon scale mail grant breathlessness while worn.

notdNetHack

In addition to dNetHack details, notdNetHack and notnotdNetHack add The Gillystone, an artifact emerald that conveys breathlessness while carried.

Hack'EM

In Hack'EM, sea dragon scales and sea dragon scale mail grant breathlessness while worn.